MIAMI, Florida (AFP) — Reigning Olympic champion Xander Schauffele had the Official World Golf Ranking in mind after LIV Golf withdrew its bid to obtain ranking points on Tuesday, with complaints about the system.
On a practice day ahead of Thursday’s start of the PGA Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Schauffele and PGA Tour Policy Board member Patrick Cantlay agreed some changes might be needed to measure talent properly from the Saudi-backed LIV series.
LIV commissioner Greg Norman ripped the OWGR, saying there was no resolution that “protects the accuracy, credibility, and integrity of the OWGR rankings.”
Only four players from the upstart series are ranked in the World Top 50 since LIV’s 54-hole events get no OWGR points.
It’s those same points that fifth-ranked Schauffele will be relying upon to give him a chance to defend Olympic gold this summer in Paris.
“It’s definitely on my radar. It’s sort of at the back of my head,” Schauffele said of the Olympics.
“I know there’s a lot of small things I need to do in order to qualify for the event, but first things first.
“I need to continue to have really solid weeks and keep my world ranking up high enough so I can qualify for Paris.”
Right now, Schauffele would be joined on the US golf team in Paris by top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, sixth-ranked Patrick Cantlay and seventh-ranked Wyndham Clark but five rivals are among those in the top 15.
LIV has four players in the world top 50 — third-ranked reigning Masters champion Jon Rahm, No. 17 Tyrrell Hatton, 30th-ranked reigning PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka and 50th-ranked Cameron Smith, the 2022 British Open champion.
Schauffele said LIV players should be higher.
“This is sort of the structure it is right now with no OWGR,” Schauffele said. “But the LIV tour definitely has really good players, players that are in the top 10 or top 25 in the world, and there’s many of ‘em.”
